Carbonating machine



Aug. 12, 1952 cs. w. BAYERS, JR 7 2,606,749

CARBONATING MACHINE Filed Aug. 25, 1946 V 5 EL IN V EN TOR.

E'I' J. g 76 Wfiayerjfr @W;

ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 12 1952 UNITED. STATES PA George W. Bayers, -Jr., Denver, 0010., assignor' of one-half to George W. Bayers,Denver, Colo.

Application August23, ieijaseriai Name;

1 1 This'inventi'on relates to improvements in car- "bonating machines and has reference more particularly to a carbonating machine of the type employed in connection with thedispensing of carbonated beverages. ,7

It is the object of this. invention to produce a simple carbonating machine that will operate without the use of a motor. 1

Another object of the invention is to produce a, carbonating machine that shall be entirely automatic in its operation.

A further object of the invention is to produce .a. carbonating machine of small size that can be readily'kept inordinary refrigerators during operation. j

'rheabove and other objects oftthe' invention that/may become apparent as the description proceeds; are obtained by 'meansof a construction and an arrangement. of parts that will now he. described in detail and for this purpose reference will be had to the accompanying draw-- in-gs in vwhich the invention has been illustrated. and ,in which:

Figurel is a perspective view of'the machine; Figure 2 a diagrammatic view showing the relationship of the several elements; and

Figure 3 is a section through an ordinary type of constant pressure regulator. V

Referring more particularly to Figures 2 and 3, reference numeral [0 designates a pipe that is connected with a supply of liquid carbon dioxide and reference numeral H is a pipe that is connected with the water supply of the buildin or withany other water supply where the water is maintained under pressure.

Acheck valve I2 is inserted in pipe H and" the latter connects with a. surge tank 13 near the bottom thereof. A pipe 14 connects tank 13 with another tank l3a. A small pipe or tube 15 is connected with pipe 14) in the manner shown. in Figure 2 and extends to and connects with the constant pressure regulator IS in the manner and for a purpose that will presently appear. At this point it may be stated that tanks 13 and Afiidmay becombined into a-single tank positioned between the check valve [2 and pipe [5.

In the presentdevice two tanks have been shown and are employedbecause the resultant machine is thereby given a more symmetrical appearancerand some other advantages of construction are obtained thereby. At the delivery side of tank 13a, there is. anothercheck valve ;whichhas been designated by reference numeral l'l.'- A pipe l8- extends. from the outlet or check valve I! to Y coupling I9. Another pipe struction employed with machinesf'or dispensingcarbonatedfwater and which has 'a handle 24. and a discharge, nozzle '25. Themixing tank 21 is provided near the bottom with a screen 26 and near the top with another'screen' 21. These screens'are of fine mesh stainless steel or some other material not affected by the liquid. Between the two screens 26 and H the space is filled with a cleansharp sand ZBthat has been screened to remove all particles small enough to pass through the screens. It is now evident that if water under pressure is contained inpipe H y and valve 23 opened, water will flow through tanks I 3 and {3a through check valve l1. pipes vl8 and 20 and through the mixing tank 2! to the dispensing faucet. 'In order to automatically carbonate thewater that is being dispensed, the

followingmechanism is added to the one just described and combined therewith in the following manner- Pipe l0 connects with the inlet of the constant pressure regulator IS. The outlet has pipe 29 connected therewith and that extends toa manually operated valve 30 which;is preferably of a type that is adapted to control the how of gas very accurately. Such valves are some times referred to as needle valves. Instead of valve 30, it is possible to substitute an orifice having the necessary cross sectional area to permit the required amount of gas to flow. .A pipe 3l'connects the outlet of valve 30 with the Y coupling l9. c

Attention is now directed to pipe l5 whose lower end is in communication with the interiors of tanks I3 and I3a and is therefore subjected to the pressure of the liquid in the tanks. This pipe is connected as shown in Figure 3 with the interiorof the bonnet 32 of the constant pressure reducing valve I6. In Figure 3, a rough diagrammatic representation of the construction of this valve is shown. The valve, itself, consists of a housing 33 that is divided by means of a partition 34 into an inlet chamber A and an outlet chamber B. Partition 34 has a valve seat 35 with which a valve 36 cooperates. A diaphragm 31 is positioned between the body 33 and the bonnet 32 and clamped between the latter by means of screws 38. A spring 39 has one end positioned in the spring cup 40 that rests against the outer surface of the diaphragm. The other end of the springis positioned in a cup 41 that can be moved inwardly or outwardly by showing how the diaphragm 31 is acted upon by? the pressure in tanks I3 and |3a in addition to the pressure exerted thereon by spring 39. "Pipe I5 is connected with the inside of the. bonnet and therefore chamber C whichis-boundedrby. the.

inner walls of the bonnet and the outer surpressure of the water in tank l3, and spring 39 I is adjusted so that the pressure of gas in cham- .br B is always reaterthan the pressure i chamber 0. 1

Particular attentionis caIledQto the construe;-

ition just described which makes it possible to maintain agiven pressure differential between thewater in the surge tanks l3 and 1311' and the delivered from the regulator valve l6. 'The importancei'of this will appear. hereinafter. 1

Let u's-now assume thatvalve 30 open soasjlto permit a fr'ee passage of gasfrom the regulator valve to coupling lS'and that "the'dispe'nsing valve 23 is 'open. Liquid .will now flow as above explained. The compressed CO2 gas mixes with the water at coupling [9 and this mixture will thnenter the'mixing tank 2| and pass upwardly throughthe sand or other granular material which serves to effecta thorough mixture'of 'the gas and the water and which prevents the 'gas from being transmitted to the dispensing faucet in large bubbles. It has been found that in the absence of valve 30, or of a restricting orifice at this point, the most desirable operation is not possible because when the dispensingvalve is suddenly opened, the pressure is'reduced'quickly and due to theg'reater inertia of the water compared to the gas," and to the higher-pressure-of the latter,'the gasis admitted in'g'reater quantity than necessary. Valve 38 has-been-inserted :so as to control the maximum quantity ofg'as that can flow at a given time in"response-to-the pressure at which it is delivered from regulator 16. By operating valve 30 an 'adjustment'is found that gives the best results for the. average speed ofoperation. Insteadof a manually controlled valve 3:), it is possible to's'ubstitute an. orifice having .a cross sectionallarea-eorrespending to 'theiopening of the valve that is water is eliminated.

- Check valve I! prevents gas from iiiowinginto" the tanks and accumulating there as it might otherwise do, because the pressureofQthe gas is greater than that of the water Checkvalve l2 guards against the reverse flow of water from tank 13 into the water system if the pressure .of the latter should fall ,for any reasonv Attention is-called .to the fact that-thepoint where the gas mixes with the water ([9) isabove the level where pipe l8 connects withthe water; v

to receive carbonfdioxi'de-flowin --'beyond*tlie 'carbon dioxidecontrolvalve. 1 Y 11 6; In an automaticcarbonating machine havi ingia dispensing faucet for delivering carbonated 'wate'r, a source ofgcarbondioxide under high 'Well. better results may be obtained by a two-stage pressure reduction and applicant wants it to be 4 supply. This forms a water seal that prevents gas from filling pipe l8.

In Figure 2 pipe 3! and coupling [9 have been shown as-of normal size. It is to be understood, however, that these elements may be of any size found to be most desirable and that coupling l9 may have any shape so long as it performs its intended function.

In the embodiment illustrated, a single reducing valvehas been shownin the gas line. A single step reduction has been found to work It is, however, possible that somewhat understoodgthatthe pressure applied to regulatingevalve; I6 may be below that normal to liquid .CO 2. face of the diaphragm is always subjectedto the aving described the invention what is claimed as newis:

1. In an automatic carbonating machine having a dispensing faucetfor delivering carbonated water, a, sourceot carbon.dioxide under high pressure, a source of .waterlunder lower pressure, and a mixing station 'wherein thehcarbon dioxide is added to the water, the: improvements comprising: automatic meansffo'r delivering carbon dioxide to the water at the mixing station only when the faucet is open, said means comprising, a water conduit "connected tothe source of water having first and second check valves therein spaced in series, the secondcheck .valve being downstream from the first check, valve, both of which are adapted to automatically" open when the faucet is open to permit waterfto flow to the mixing station, a pressure regulating ,de-

.vice connectedto the source of carbonfdioxid'e having a carbon 'dioxide control valve adapted to be opened by thejcombined' pressure of water inthe conduit/at a point in the latter between sai'dicheck valves and the added pressure exerted by resilient" means tending, to open the'control valve, the control. valve beingv adapted to be closed when the pressure of the carbon "dioxide .at the mixing stationbalances [said combined pressures, said-second check .valv'e' being; closed when thefaucet is'closed to prevent the water pressurebetween said. check valves f romexceeding the pressureof the source of water.

2. Apparatus in accordance with claim lin- '.cludi'ng means for varying the urge ofthe'resilient means 31. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1.1 i n eluding adjustable metering meansjdi'sposedi between the regulating device n thejmlixing'jsta- 'ti'on, through which carbon "dioxide jmay flow .fromtheiormer to {the latter;

j 4'." Apparatus iii accordance with claim v 3; in,- cludingflmeansf r-[varying the urge of the resilient means. [.1

fwh'erein saidi pressure regulating. device comprises firstfand second chambers separated by a "substantially. flat diaphragm. adapted to flex lin :2; direction perpendicular to its plane, said car- .651 bonfdioxide' control valve being operably con- 5; Apparatus, ,in "accordance with." claim :1,

nected to saicl" diaph ragm for axialj .movement 1m n d rect n Q p iS cham e fleeing connected to the water conduit between the. check fvalve s therein, and---also 'f containing the resilient means, the second ch mber adapted pressure, a source of water under lower pressure, and a mixing station wherein the carbon dioxide is added to the water, the improvements comprising: automatic means for delivering carbon dioxide to the water at the mixing station only when the faucet is open, said means comprising, a pressure regulating device connected to the source of carbon dioxide having a carbon dioxide control valve adapted to automatically open when the faucet is opened and automatically close when the faucet is closed, said control valve being constructed to be opened by a predetermined water pressure in the system and closed by a second gas pressure which exceeds said predetermined pressure, and auto- Y matically operable means disposed between the mixing station and the source of water, for preventing the gas pressure at the mixing station to add to said predetermined pressure when the faucet is closed.

GEORGE W. BAYERS, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 474,414 Schneible et a1. May 10, 1892 656,919 Worns Aug. 28, 1900 833,002 Robbin Oct. 9, 1906 843,778 Thomas Feb. 12, 1907 1,592,305 Lewis July 13, 1926 2,331,248 Towle Oct. 5, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 8,809 Great Britain May 10, 1892 

